The 37-year-old Williams is still waiting for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam triumph

Serena Williams heads into this year’s French Open as an outsider for a Grand Slam title for possibly the first time in 20 years, with questions surrounding her fitness after a poor start to the season, while Naomi Osaka needs to rediscover her best form to solidify her position at the top of the women’s game with a third straight major crown.
The 37-year-old Williams is still waiting for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam triumph, with her last victory coming at the 2017 Australian Open shortly before taking a break from the sport due to pregnancy.
She impressed initially after returning, but last year twice fell just short of drawing level with Margaret Court’s mark, losing in the Wimbledon final to Angelique Kerber before her infamous meltdown en route to another final defeat by Osaka at Flushing Meadows.
Williams’ 2019 campaign has not gone to plan so far, with a series of injuries seeing her manage just four matches since her Australian Open quarter-final exit to Karolina Pliskova.
But she is confident her work off the court can help her find her best game in the biggest tournaments.
“I actually haven’t been able to train or practice a lot. I was out much longer than I expected,” admitted the three-time French Open champion last week in Rome, before pulling out of the tournament ahead of a second-round tie with sister Venus.
“But I did everything I could to stay fit. I knew that I love the clay season and I wanted to be a part of it.
“It’s not about today or tomorrow. For me obviously it’s about playing well at all the big moments… Obviously the Slams, etc, just getting ready for those events.”
World number one Osaka has not been overly struggling since surprisingly splitting with coach Sascha Bajin in the wake of her Australian Open title.
But the Japanese star has not won a title since, and like Williams, withdrew from the Italian Open through injury before her quarter-final against Kiki Bertens.
It has still been the 21-year-old’s best-ever clay-court campaign, having also reached the last eight in Madrid and the semifinals in Stuttgart, and she feels her big-hitting game is now ready for the red dirt.
“I’m kind of comfortable with it now. It’s just like I randomly slip. I feel like if I can get that under control, I’ll be good,” Osaka, who has never reached the second week in Paris, said.
She also does not feel that her lack of a title since Melbourne will have a large bearing on her Roland Garros prospects.
“I can’t necessarily say it’s been ups and downs because if I think about it, it’s definitely been going up,” she said.
“Every match that I’ve played, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve tried to take what I’ve learned into the next match. I think I’ve done that well.”
Reigning champion Simona Halep will enter the tournament somewhat under the radar with much of the focus on Williams and Osaka, but the Romanian remains the world’s most consistent player on clay.
The three-time French Open finalist is the bookmakers’ favourite for the title, despite having lost both her finals so far this year and being knocked out in her first match in Rome by Czech youngster Marketa Vondrousova.
But she will be the third seed in Paris and a name everyone will want to avoid in the draw.
“I can’t expect anything because to be a defending champion in Grand Slam is for (the) first time for me, so it’s something new,” said Halep, who won her maiden major title 12 months ago in her fourth final. “I will be more relaxed. I will try to enjoy (it) more.”
The women’s game remains far more open than the men’s, with a host of other players holding serious hopes of lifting the trophy, like Italian Open champion and second seed Pliskova and the in-form Petra Kvitova.
Anything can happen in the French capital, as shown by unheralded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko’s shock victory only two years ago.

]]>DNA Script picks up $38.5 million to make DNA production faster and simplerhttps://thedailymango.com/dna-script-picks-up-38-5-million-to-make-dna-production-faster-and-simpler/
Mon, 20 May 2019 07:30:57 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=959DNA Script has raised $38.5 million in new financing to commercialize a process that it claims

DNA Script has raised $38.5 million in new financing to commercialize a process that it claims is the first big leap forward in manufacturing genetic material.

The revolution in synthetic biology that’s reshaping industries from medicine to agriculture rests on three, equally important pillars.

They include: analytics — the ability to map the genome and understand the function of different genes; synthesis — the ability to manufacture DNA to achieve certain functions; and gene editing — the CRISPR-based technologies that allow for the addition or subtraction of genetic code.

New technologies have already been introduced to transform the analytics and editing of genomes, but little progress has been made over the past 50 years in the ways in which genetic material is manufactured. That’s exactly the problem that DNA Script is trying to solve.

Traditionally, making DNA involved the use of chemical compounds to synthesize (or write) DNA in chains that were limited to around 200 nucleotide bases. Those synthetic pieces of genetic code are then assembled to make a gene.

DNA Script’s technology holds the promise of making longer chains of nucleotides by mirroring the enzymatic process through which DNA is assembled within cells — with fewer errors and no chemical waste material. The enzymatic process can accelerate commercial applications in healthcare, chemical manufacturing and agriculture.

“Any technology that can make that faster is going to be very valuable,” says Christopher Voigt, a synthetic biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, told the journal Nature.

DNA Script isn’t the only company in the market that’s looking to make the leap forward in enzymatic DNA production. Nuclear, a startup working with Harvard University’s famed geneticist, George Church, and Ansa Bio, a startup affiliated with Jay Keasling’s Berkeley lab at the University of California, are also moving forward with the technology.

But the Paris-based company has achieved some milestones that would make its technology potentially the first to come to market with a commercially viable approach.

At least, that’s what new investors LSP and Bpifrance, through its Large Venture fund, are hoping. They’re joined by previous investors Illumina Ventures, M. Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Kurma Partners and Idinvest Partners in backing the company’s latest funding.

The company said the money would be used to accelerate the development of its first products and establish a presence in the United States.

“As we announced earlier this year at the AGBT General Meeting, DNA Script was the first company to enzymatically synthesize a 200mer oligo de novo with an average coupling efficiency that rivals the best organic chemical processes in use today,” said Thomas Ybert, chief executive and co-founder of DNA Script. “Our technology is now reliable enough for its first commercial applications, which we believe will deliver the promise of same-day results to researchers everywhere, with DNA synthesis that can be completed in just a few hours.”

]]>NBA star Tyreke Evans dismissed for two years for drug code violationhttps://thedailymango.com/nba-star-tyreke-evans-dismissed-for-two-years-for-drug-code-violation/
Sat, 18 May 2019 07:41:57 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=956Indiana Pacers guard Tyreke Evans has been dismissed from the NBA for violating the league’s

]]>Indiana Pacers guard Tyreke Evans has been dismissed from the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug program, the NBA said Saturday (AEST).

Under the program, the 29-year-old who averaged 10.2 points per game last season and was due to become a free agent can apply for reinstatement in two years.

The Pacers said they were informed on Friday of Evans’s disqualification from the league.

“We take these matters seriously and will reach out to Tyreke to offer our support,” the Pacers said in a statement.

They did not disclose what he has tested positive for.

Evans has played 10 seasons in the NBA and was Rookie of the Year in 2010. He was drafted by the Sacramento Kings with the fourth overall pick in 2009 and has also played for the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies.

According to the NBA’s guidelines, a player can be dismissed and disqualified from the league for testing positive for a drug of abuse, or if he is convicted of or pleads guilty to the use, possession or distribution of a drug of abuse.

The NBA, NBA teams, and the Players Association are prohibited from publicly disclosing information regarding the testing or treatment of any NBA player under the anti-drug program, other than to announce a player’s suspension or dismissalf rom the league.

ESPN reports the list of possible “drug of abuse” substances that are serious enough to warrant an immediate ban includes methamphetamine and cocaine.

The two-year ban sees Evans join former Milwaukee Bucks star O.J. Mayo and NBA journeyman Chris Andersen as the only players since 2000 to be hit with a two-year ban under the drug code.

The decision to ban Evans came as a bombshell for the NBA’s most senior reporters.

]]>Chinese Beauty Superfoods For Collagen And Perfect Skinhttps://thedailymango.com/chinese-beauty-superfoods-for-collagen-and-perfect-skin/
Fri, 17 May 2019 07:48:55 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=953Collagen supplements and collagen-rich bone broth are the latest natural beauty craze in the United

Collagen supplements and collagen-rich bone broth are the latest natural beauty craze in the United States as we seek to turn back the clock with younger looking skin. This important structural protein promotes healing in the body and helps strengthen hair and smooth skin. You’ll find it in the bones and connective tissue of animals, including pig’s feet, along with certain plants and fungi. The jury’s still out on the proven efficacy of eating collagen, but it can’t hurt, right?

I’ve taken to blending Vital Proteins collagen peptides into my morning smoothies although I’m a little skeptical about the collagen gummies. While collagen’s nutritious benefits may be a new trend among the beauty-obsessed in the West, the women of Ancient China have consumed exotic collagen-rich foods for thousands of years for glowing, porcelain skin. These gelatinous ingredients don’t tend to have much flavor on their own, but here’s where to try them in Shanghai, where the women are long thought to be the prettiest in all of China.

Jin Xuan Boiled Bird’s Nest Crab Yolk Soup

AMBER GIBSON

Bird’s Nest

This edible swiftlet’s nest is made with bird saliva and is the most prized and expensive of these beautifying foods. The nests must be hand-harvested from high cave corners, a dangerous and arduous process. Nests are usually white or light yellow, but rare red nests also exist. Bird’s nest is normally served in a sweet or savory double-boiled soup and high-end Cantonese and Chinese restaurants will almost always have an entire page of the menu dedicated to bird’s nest preparations. Yong Yi Ting at the Mandarin Oriental Pudong serves imperial bird’s nest in a viscous supreme broth while Yi Long Court at The Peninsula serves superior bird’s nest soup with red king crab meat. Both offer generous portions that are worth the high price – as much as $80 USD for one small bowl.

Yong Yi Ting Braised Superior Bird’s Nest in Supreme Broth

AMBER GIBSON

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The most unique preparation of bird’s nest soup I’ve had would be at Jin Xuan at The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong. Here, Executive Chef Daniel Wong serves a boiled bird’s nest soup with crab meat and crab yolk, which colors the soup a vibrant yellow orange, a similar shade to a duck egg yolk, and adds a rich savory umami flavor.

Yi Long Court Superior Bird’s Nest Soup

AMBER GIBSON

Bird’s nest is more difficult to locate in the United States, and I’d be wary of the authenticity and origins of anything you might find at a shop in Chinatown. I did see individual baby food jars of bird’s nest for sale at Costco over Chinese Lunar New Year though and promptly bought as many cases as I could fit in the shopping cart. Not nearly as much bird’s nest as in the photos above, but I guess for $5 a jar, you only get a few slivers.

Yi Long Court Braised Premium Fish Maw

AMBER GIBSON

Fish Maw

These swim bladders help larger fish stay afloat and can be sourced from a variety of fish, including totoaba off the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Male fish bladders are thicker and a little chewier while female bladders are more tender. Like bird’s nest, it’s sold dried in Traditional Chinese Medicine shops and must be rehydrated before eating, making it soft and slippery. Also like bird’s nest it’s often served in soups, although it can be sautéed with vegetables and mushrooms too. Larger, thicker pieces of fish maw are considered higher quality and contain more collagen than thinner, shredded varities. Yi Long Court braises premium fish maw with black mushroom and broccoli in oyster sauce.

Dragon Phoenix Hong Shao Sea Cucumber

AMBER GIBSON

Sea Cucumber

Sea cucumbers are actually animals, not vegetables. They’re scavengers on the ocean floor and resemble dark cucumbers or fat worms. Often they’re braised along with abalone or vegetables, like the Japanese sea cucumber at Yong Yi Ting, served in thick abalone sauce. Jin Xuan offers a double dose of collagen braising fish maw with a whole prickly sea cucumber in double-boiled chicken stock, while Dragon Phoenix in the historic Fairmont Peace Hotel braises sea cucumber ‘hong shao’ style with soy, ginger, sugar and star anise.

Yong Yi Ting Braised Japanese Sea Cucumber

AMBER GIBSON

Snow Fungus

Sometimes called “poor man’s bird’s nest,” snow fungus looks a little like a loofah when you buy it dried. After rehydrating and making it into a soup, it’s like eating little silvery clouds. You can stir-fry it with vegetables like any other mushroom, although its texture is finer and more delicate than most. In Chinese cuisine it’s often used in dessert too. Keep it simple with a refreshing chilled soup garnished with goji berries, red dates or osmanthus and sweetened with a touch of honey.

Dragon Phoenix Peach Gum Soup

AMBER GIBSON

Peach Gum

This resin secreted from the bark of a peach tree comes in translucent amber crystallized clumps. The irregular shaped rocks transform into chewy pillows when rehydrated and are most often served in soups or as bowls of jelly. At Dragon Phoenix, double-boiled peach gum is served in a dessert soup with snow fungus, Asian pear and kumquat.

Dive Brief:

Offspring Beauty, a subsidiary of Clique Brands — which owns Who What Wear, The Thirty and College Fashionista — is launching its first beauty brand, Versed, soon to be followed by a second brand, according to Versed’s LinkedIn page.

The clean skincare brand will launch May 19 in 1,400 Target stores, according to a company spokesperson. Following the initial launch, Versed will roll out to additional Target stores, as well as Riley Rose, Revolve and DermStore by July. The brand plans to launch direct-to-consumer sales in October.

Who What Wear is also involved with Target: the two started a partnership in 2016 and have since worked together to “create an ongoing clothing collection,” according to Who What Wear’s website. Collections are launched seasonally, and new items drop every month.

Dive Insight:

With a large brick-and-mortar launch plan, Versed is diving headfirst into the clean beauty space. The brand touts that its products are “developed with trusted experts,” and don’t include “1,300+ common toxins, added colors and fragrances, and pricey packaging,” according to press materials emailed to Retail Dive.

The brand is also eschewing “airbrushed skin, marketing ingredients and paid influencers,” going for an authentic and down-to-earth vibe that is gaining steam in retail at large, from beauty brands and drugstores like CVSto teen retailers like Aerie.

Clean beauty has been in the spotlight as customers pay more attention to ingredients. This time last year, Sephora announced its “Clean at Sephora” label, and in March, Target launched its own “Target Clean” icon, but the movement goes beyond just labeling products in stores that meet a certain standard: Picking safe and environmentally friendly ingredients has become a focus from the get-go for brands that launch in the personal care space, including many direct-to-consumer brands like Native and Madison Reed.

In addition to offering clean products, Versed is launching with a relatively low-cost group of items. The brand is highlighting “19 skin changers, under $20,” including cleansers, moisturizers, serums, eye and lip care, and face masks, among other things. That makes Target a natural launch partner for the brand, especially given the big-box retailer’s history of giving physical real estate to startups like Casper and Quip.

]]>‘Sicilians have affinity for the Islamic world in their DNA’https://thedailymango.com/sicilians-have-affinity-for-the-islamic-world-in-their-dna/
Tue, 14 May 2019 07:06:24 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=947Palermo, Italy – The sound of about two dozen children practising Quran recitations fills the otherwise

Palermo, Italy – The sound of about two dozen children practising Quran recitations fills the otherwise empty Islamic Cultural Center of Via Roma in Palermo, Italy.

Two break out of the group and start playing hide-and-seek between a curtain that separates the children’s section from the rest of the centre.

They are quickly ushered back to their place by Imam Sehab Uddin.

Home to more than 25,000 immigrants, many from majority Muslim countries such as Bangladesh, Palermo, has become a symbol of multiculturalism and integration that has been built on Sicily’s history.

A Muslim stronghold for about 200 years between the ninth and 11th centuries, the Mediterranean island – of which Palermo is the capital – still bears the marks of Islamic history both physically and culturally.

Ahmad Abd Al Majid Macaluso, the Imam of Palermo, walks through the San Giovanni degli Eremiti monastery and points to a discoloured section of wall.

He explains that was where the Mihrab used to be, the semi-circular carving in a mosque’s wall that faces the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam.

“Every church here used to be a mosque which used to be a synagogue which used to be a church which was a mosque,” he explains. “This is the history of Sicily.”

Imam Macaluso thinks that these symbols, like the Quranic inscription on the Cathedral of Palermo, the Arab-Norman architecture that dots the landscape, and the culture of the people make it a bit easier for Muslim immigrants to adjust to their new home.

“Surely, for Muslims that come here from other countries, Sicily is a happy exception because there is a natural disposition for unity, to recognise a brotherhood with Muslims, Jews and other religions,” Macaluso said.

“Sicilians differ from the rest of Europe in this natural disposition for diversity. Sicilians have this affinity for the Islamic world in their DNA.”

Masrur Rahim, a slim 29-year-old originally from Bangladesh, moved to Palermo when he was nine.

Now working at a travel agency in the city centre, Rahim credits the hospitality of Sicilians to their Islamic ancestry and multicultural past.

“The connection you feel is the people, because they [the Muslims] have left something inside the people,” Rahim said. “They are completely different from the northerners. They are more friendly here, they accept people, it’s better than the other places of Italy, the northern places of Italy.”

Imam Sehab Uddin also believes that there is a difference between the cultures of northern and southern Italy.

“Italy is like an apartment building,” he explains. “The people in the north are on the top floors and don’t talk to the people on the bottom floors [the south]. The people in the north, in cities like Padova and Venice, are scared of me. If I try to get their attention to ask them a question, they are scared of me. If I ask someone here, they answer and help me immediately.”

Patrizia Spallino, an Arabic language professor and director at the Office of Medieval Studies in Palermo, explains that the Tunisian Arabic that used to be spoken on the island over 1,000 years ago is still evident in the Sicilian dialect through places and everyday words.

The port neighbourhood of Marsala in Palermo derives from the Arabic marsa Allah, meaning “port of God”.

This influence can also be seen in common Sicilian words like meskeen, from the Arabic miskeen, meaning someone who is poor or unfortunate.

Although this Arab influence is evident to someone who studies the language and knows the history, Spallino explains, most of the population is unaware of these links.

What is not lost on people, is what she calls the Mediterranean idea of hospitality.

“The idea of hospitality, starting with Greece and the Arabs and then Byzantines … is sacred,” she says. “You do everything you can for hospitality. In Arab countries, when they invite you in [to their home] they get you a tea, something to eat, this is also very Sicilian.”

But the reality of this hospitality has not been the same throughout Italy.

Over the past few years, Italy has seen several attacks against immigrants – the worst of which took place last year in the central Italian city of Macerata, where a man who ran in local elections under the far-right Lega party shot and injured six African migrants in a series of drive-by shootings.

In addition to these attacks, Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has taken a hard line against immigration, at times forbidding those who have been rescued in the Mediterranean to disembark at Italian ports.

One of the most outspoken politicians against Italy’s anti-immigrant policies has been Palermo’s mayor, Leoluca Orlando.

“Minister Salvini isn’t against Muslims, Minister Salvini isn’t against immigrants, Minister Salvini is against Italians,” says Orlando, tapping his finger on his desk. “He is against our culture of hospitality, he’s against our Mediterranean soul, he’s against our history.”

Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando holds up a pamphlet on migrant rights in his office in city hall [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]

This past January, Orlando, along with the mayors of Naples, Reggio Calabria and Florence, clashed with Salvini by rejecting the controversial Security Decree. The decree, in part, cancelled residence permits for humanitarian reasons, replacing it with shorter permits for specific incidences like natural disasters.

Orlando’s welcoming approach to immigration and multiculturalism can be seen in his office. It boasts a 200-year-old, coffee table-sized Quran, gifted to the city by the Aga Khan Foundation.

Arabic and French pamphlets on migrant rights sit neatly stacked to the side of his desk.

“When someone asks how many immigrants are in Palermo, I don’t respond 100,000 or 120,000,” Orlando explains. “I say none because the people in Palermo are Palermitans. The mayor of Palermo does not make a differentiation between those who were born in Palermo and those who live in Palermo.”

The Via Divisi street sign, like all major street signs in the historic centre of Palermo, is written in Italian, Hebrew and Arabic [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]

Orlando links his perspective on immigration and his policy to the city’s culture and history.

“In the south of Italy, in particular, we are not European, I’m sorry but Palermo is not Frankfurt or Berlin.

“Palermo isn’t Paris … Palermo is Beirut, Palermo is Istanbul, Palermo is Jerusalem, Palermo is Tripoli. Palermo is a Middle Eastern city in Europe. The Mediterranean isn’t a sea, it’s a continent. We have a Mediterranean identity that is multicultural.”

For people like Masur, this multicultural identity has helped him feel not just tolerated – but accepted.

“I feel at home now,” he says. “If I go somewhere else in Italy, like Venice or Milan, I say ‘no,’ I want to go back home to my Palermo.”

The domed roof of the San Cataldo church is an example of Arab-Norman architecture that can be found across Palermo [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]

]]>Physical fitness might protect against lung and bowel cancershttps://thedailymango.com/physical-fitness-might-protect-against-lung-and-bowel-cancers/
Mon, 13 May 2019 07:06:21 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=944A recent study of a large and diverse group of people supports the idea that

]]>A recent study of a large and diverse group of people supports the idea that being physically fit can help protect against cancer.

Physically fit people may be at lower risk of developing some types of cancer.

Working with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, MI, researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, saw how the fittest adults had the lowest risk of lung and colorectal cancer.

Their analysis also linked higher fitness before diagnosis to better survival among those who did develop lung or colorectal cancer.

The study used data on 49,143 health system patients who had undergone exercise stress tests of fitness between 1991 and 2009.

The composition of the group was 46% female, 64% white, 29% black, and 1% Hispanic.

The researchers believe that this is the first time that such a study has included women and covered such a large proportion of individuals who were not white.

“Our findings,” says first study author Dr. Catherine Handy Marshall, who is an assistant professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, “are one of the first, largest, and most diverse cohorts to look at the impact of fitness on cancer outcomes.”

Need to study impact of fitness on cancer

Around half a million people living in the United States today have received a diagnosis for lung cancer at some time during their lives, according to figures published online by the American Lung Association.

According to 2016 figures, deaths to the disease have fallen by 6.5% since they peaked in 2005. However, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

Estimates suggest that lung cancer caused 154,050 deaths in the U.S. in 2018, which is around 25% of all cancer deaths.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) state that colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

The ACS estimate that around 145,600 people in the U.S. will receive a diagnosis of colorectal cancer in 2019, and that the disease will be responsible for 51,020 deaths.

Cardiorespiratory fitness offers an objective way to assess people’s “habitual physical activity.” It is also a useful measure for diagnosing and predicting health.

Most people can improve their cardiorespiratory fitness with regular exercise. Also, there is “convincing evidence” that moderate and high levels of fitness can reduce men and women’s risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular causes.

Yet, as Dr. Handy Marshall and her colleagues point out, there is little information on the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and risk and survival in lung and colorectal cancer.

Fitness related to lower risk

Their study participants, aged 40–70 years old, did not have cancer when they underwent fitness assessments. The assessments had measured cardiorespiratory fitness in metabolic equivalents of task (METs).

Over a median follow-up of 7.7 years, the investigators retrieved information on cancer incidence from links to the cancer registry and on deaths from the National Death Index.

For the analysis, the team put the participants in groups according to the METs value of their stresstest: 6 METs and under, 6-9 METs, 10-11 METs, and 12 METs and over.

The investigators found that the fittest individuals (with a METs score of 12 and over) had a 77% lower risk of developing lung cancer and a 61% reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer compared to the least fit (6 METs and under).

In their analyses, the researchers adjusted the results to remove the effects that other factors, such as sex, race, age, body mass index, diabetes, and smoking, might have on the relationship. And, in the case of colorectal cancer, they also adjusted the results for aspirin and statin use.

Better odds of survival

The results also revealed that among individuals diagnosed with lung cancer or colorectal cancer, those with the highest level of cardiorespiratory fitness had a reduced risk of dying during the follow-up of 44% and 89% respectively.

The authors conclude that, in what they believe to be the “largest study performed to date,” higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were “associated with a lower risk of incident lung and colorectal cancer in men and women, and a lower risk of all‐cause mortality among those diagnosed with lung or colorectal cancer.”

As the study was not of a design that can draw such a conclusion, the team could not say that improving fitness actually reduces risk and improves survival in these cancers. It remains for other studies to pursue this question.

Dr. Handy Marshall remarks that it is now common for doctors to measure cardiorespiratory fitness as part of clinical assessments.

“Many people might already have these results and can be informed about the association of fitness with cancer risk in addition to what fitness levels mean for other conditions, like heart disease.”

]]>A boat wrapped in chains, and a pop-up embassy: the artist intervening at Venice Biennalehttps://thedailymango.com/a-boat-wrapped-in-chains-and-a-pop-up-embassy-the-artist-intervening-at-venice-biennale/
Sat, 11 May 2019 07:09:53 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=942Richard Bell’s pitch to the Venice Biennale was rejected – so he crowdfunded it instead.

]]>Richard Bell’s pitch to the Venice Biennale was rejected – so he crowdfunded it instead. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Art has ever been both a story and critique of exactly who is afforded access to its pleasures.

It’s a story that will be told in spectacular fashion – and on water – this week at the opening of the Venice Biennale, the world’s largest art festival.

Australian artist and activist Richard Bell has organised a sculptural replica of Australia’s official Biennale pavilion to be driven around the canal city on a motorised barge, laden with heavy “keep out” chains, and with symbolism.

Bell – who is Aboriginal, and from Queensland – wasn’t actually selected for Australia’s official showing in its Venice pavilion. He did apply, but was rejected.

He responded with a crowdfunding campaign, mobilising friends and collaborators, making Instagram videos and selling T-shirts. He raised enough interest to attract eventual funds from state and national bodies, as well as from donors.

Bell’s primary medium has always been his larrikin deflation of the art world’s impulse to imperialism. Now the work, titled No Tin Shack, is figuratively and literally shipping the issues of dispossession, colonialism, exclusion and asylum to the very shores of the high-status art fair.

His intervention aims to provoke conversations in Embassy2019, an installation he and his team have also set up in Venice, in the gardens of the nearby Giardini. The tents comprising this work are also a replica – this time of the Aboriginal “embassy” erected by Indigenous activists Michael Anderson, Billy Craig, Tony Corey and Bertie Williams on the grounds of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra in 1972.

Their disruptive, visual protest of the then-Liberal government’s rejection of Aboriginal land rights was inspirational to generations; and, according to Bell, is “the greatest piece of performance art”.

“I did the Embassy as a homage from the first embassy, but I was alerted to the magic and the genius of that endeavour by the young people who in 2011 and 2012 set up Aboriginal embassies around the country,” says Bell. “I just thought, this is amazing.”

The role of his own replica is to provide a physical place to stage ongoing discussions about community and liberation, wherever it travels in the world. In Venice, those conversations will revolve around the issues raised by No Tin Shack. “Not just about Australia’s convict past,” he says, “and the way that it treats Indigenous people with its ridiculous imprisonment rates, but also the way it treats and imprisons people seeking asylum, which is illegal under international law.”

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Richard Bell at the 58th Biennale di Venezia. He has created the Aboriginal Embassy in one of the gardens near to the main exhibition area. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

How a culture negotiates the presence of a foreign boat, of course, is both a potent symbol of cultural confrontation in modern politics, and a brutal reminder of a globalised colonial past.

Italy’s own response to the world’s refugee crises is just one of a few realities that localises Bell’s art. “The way the city deals with tourism, and the big ships – that’s a massive issue here [too],” says Bell of Venice. The problems it shares with other cities “all lead back to the same cause: capitalism, globalisation,” he says.

“Issues regarding native people, native rights, refugee rights, people being into thrown into poverty – the crisis of late capitalism is rampant greed and redistribution of wealth. A tiny percentage of people have benefitted from this redistribution of wealth, and the effects of that are felt everywhere, even in Europe, in the richest countries of the world.”

For Bell, community is necessary to resist a culture of individualism and greed; he is at pains to explain that his artistic project is a team effort, and refers to video producers Popsart and Caroline Gardem, the project backers and the friends housing him in Venice as his “sports team”.

Documenting the project on Instagram, he can be seen in a sporting helmet, rolling a ball on his knee, saying things like, “We’re gonna talk about how neoliberalism and late capitalism impacts on the art world”.

Of the helmet, he says “art is a team game too”.

“If you want to point to the lone genius, I will point you to their team … There is no such thing as the lone genius, even Van Gogh had his brother.”

Last time I interviewed him, five years ago at the Perth festival, Bell’s quip that “we’re going to find out if the Sydney art scene is as pissweak as we think it is” – in response to the sponsorship of its Biennale by then-detention-centre-sponsor, Transfield – helped ignite a fierce boycott and the most infamous recent political showdown in Australian art.

]]>[Funding alert] Fitness startup Fitternity raises $4M from Sixth Sense Ventureshttps://thedailymango.com/funding-alert-fitness-startup-fitternity-raises-4m-from-sixth-sense-ventures/
Wed, 08 May 2019 07:52:27 +0000https://thedailymango.com/?p=936Fitness discovery and booking platform Fitternity on Tuesday said that it has raised close to

]]>Fitness discovery and booking platform Fitternity on Tuesday said that it has raised close to $4 million from consumer centric domestic venture fund Sixth Sense Ventures.

Founded in 2013, Fitternity was started by first-generation entrepreneurs – management graduate Neha Motwani, and consultant Jayam Vora, an engineer and healthcare specialist.

On Fitternity, users can book real-time sessions seamlessly, and pay-per-session. The platform also provides users with options of membership portability and dynamic pricing – addressing the fear of wasted long-term memberships and need for variety.

Founders of Fitternity

On the investment, Neha Motwani, Co-founder and CEO, Fitternity, said,

“We are really excited to partner with Sixth Sense. Our business models are seeing great traction on both sides of demand and supply and we aim to scale across three major focus areas – adding offerings in ancillary categories across sports and preventive healthcare, scaling up our supply base in top 20 cities, and managing inventory at scale.”

The company has already partnered with top insurance companies to offer fitness linked insurance premiums, and are replacing outdated gym reimbursements with portable and flexible Fitternity Sessions for leading corporates.

Jayam Vora, Co-founder and COO, Fitternity, said, “We have a deep understanding of the pain points of consumers in their fitness journey and through innovative offerings across a strong network of gyms / studios we aim to provide an optimal solution to our customers across their wellness lifecycle. Having the opportunity to scale up Fitternity alongside the Sixth Sense team is truly exciting.”

At present, the platform claims to have close to 10,000 fitness centers and data of 10 million customers.

Nikhil Vora, Founder and CEO of Sixth Sense, stated

“Fitternity is a great fit for Sixth Sense as its business model has perfectly evolved to be relevant to the changing behaviours of the Indian consumer. I’ve known the team for a while and is heartening to see them evolve over the years and build a strong team as they become leaders in the fitness space. Our dream is to see Fitternity evolve to become the Google for discovering fitness, the BookMyShow for buying fitness and akin to a Zomato-Swiggy for consuming fitness.”

The founders also state that the company is looking to grow its revenues six times over the next 12 months.